this morning, a whole, new race after the dust-up in denver. >> your entitled, because you have your own airplane, and your own house. but not your own facts. >> under governor romney's definition, donald trump is a small business. >> heavy with specifics. but pretty light on fireworks. >> was it a mismatch? overwhelming response this morning as to who won the debate. we'll get expert analysis. and some are calling it the big bird debate. talk of the "sesame street" star going viral overnight. we'll explain why.

good morning, everyone. mitt romney returns to the campaign trail this morning, with new momentum after a very strong performance. >> indeed. the debate ranged from the extremely serious, some would say even wonky, to the very silly. whether big bird should be fired. abc's brandi hitt is joining us from denver with more. good morning, brandi? >> reporter: good morning, rob and paula. this debate has been the biggest moment so far in this race. and for much of the night, president obama looked very relaxed on stage. and mitt romney pounced, putting the president on defense. the first presidential debate started with a hand shake and a smile between president obama and his republican challenger, mitt romney. then, it quickly focused on the economy. >> 5 million jobs in the private sector created. the auto industry's come roaring back. and housing has begun to rise. >> i know what it takes to get small business growing again, to

hire people. >> reporter: romney was aggressive most of the night. but his comments about the 47% had taken a toll on his campaign. the president never brought up those comments. and romney tried to move past them. >> under the president's policies, middle-income americans have been buried. they're just being crushed. i will not, under any circumstances, raise taxes on middle-income families. >> reporter: the president challenged his rival, saying that romney cannot keep his goal of cutting taxes and not add to the deficit without hurting the middle-class. >> now, five weeks before the election, he's saying his big, bold idea is never mind. >> reporter: other topics included medicare reform and the president's health care reform law. while there wasn't a knockout punch by either side, some feel the president may have been too relaxed. >> this time, he seemed just a little detached at times. didn't want to be there. >> reporter: most agree romney led the debate. and after lagging in many polls, this first match-up could give him the boost he needed. >> knowing he's behind and he

needs to win. and he came in and fought that fight stylistically. i think he put the president on defense a number of times. >> reporter: now, the candidates aren't wasting any time. they're getting back on the campaign trail today. and the big next week when the vice presidential candidates go one-on-one in kentucky. live in denver, brandi hitt. back to you. >> big issues and controversies in the headlines last few weeks, never mentioned last night. >> reporter: definitely. that's what's interesting, rob and paula. you talk to the analysts. and a lot of people were waiting for president obama to bring up mitt romney's past at bain capital. and that 47% comment he made over the last couple of weeks. abc news spoke to the romney campaign and they were also surprised. they had pressed mitt romney to answer these questions. and they don't know why the president didn't bring it up, either. i feel these are talking points that the campaign is going to go over. and the next presidential debate

is in two weeks. that will be taking place in new york. and you may hear about it then in that debate. >> brandi hitt live for us in denver. thank you, brandi. and we talked to our washington editor, rick klein for insight into this first debate. >> our debate coverage continues now with abc's senior washington editor, rick klein. >> rick, pundits on both sides of the aisle, giving this to romney. we were expecting zingers, style, not substance. did it work? >> this was mitt romney's night. he was sharp. he was specific. he had a plan of attack. and he went after barack obama every way he could, and holding him accountable for the obama record. we haven't seen that too much in this campaign. there's been so many personal attacks. so many back and forth. he was able to say, look, this is what you promised four years ago. where is the gap here? most importantly, he's able to say, this is the choice i'm offering. and he was able to control this debate.

>> did you think that romney will see a bounce coming out of this, the way that obama had a bounce coming out of the convention, in charlotte, with bill clinton's famous speech? >> he is looking for a comeback moment. what happens next is going to be important. he's going to be giving a speech on foreign policy. he'll be asked about this in interviews in the coming days. if he can build on this, yes. he will start to close the gap. the romney campaign, just happened just at the right moment for them to capitalize on something. knowing you have five weeks left. there's a couple of turns left. >> the next presidential debate, tuesday, october 16th. >> thanks, rick. >> thank you, guys. again, we extend our thanks to rick klein for that. we'll have much more from the abc political team coming up in a little while on "good morning america." now, turning overseas to breaking news from along the border between turkey and syria. for a second-straight day, turkish artillery has opened

fire on syria's targets. that's in retaliation for the syrian shelling of a turkish town yesterday. turkey says the shelling was a warning, not a declaration of war. a huge fire is finally out at the nation's largest petroleum production complex. it took crews nearly four hours to extinguish the blaze. now, investigators are trying to figure out exactly what caused that fire. and a sports note. miguel cabrera of the detroit tigers is baseball's first triple crown winner since 1967. that means he led the american league in batting average, home runs and runs batted in or rbis. he's just the 15th major leaguer to win the triple crown title. some of the others, some pretty good company. mickey mantle, ted williams, ty cobb. a remarkable achievement. congratulations and kudos to

miguel cabrera. time, now, for a look at weather across the country. an early winter storm from north dakota to northern minnesota, with some areas getting up to a foot of snow, getting towards that time of year again. here we go. also, rain could be heavy at times in the northeast, around boston, new york, philly and d.c. showers and thunderstorms from wilmington, north carolina, down to miami. mostly dry for the rest of the country. >> get out the winter coats for the kids. need to wash them. atlanta 86. new orleans, 60s for the central plains. and from salt lake city into the pacific northwest. the state where gas prices are soaring this morning. 5 bucks a gallon could be in sight. we'll tell you where. and forget free. facebook wants you to pay to make sure that your friends read your posts. and later in the show, the breakout star of the denver debate is, yeah, that big fellow right there. the one and only big bird.

welcome back, everybody. well, millions of california drivers are facing some pretty serious sticker shock. a pipeline closure and refinery problems have sent gas prices there to the highest ever for this time of year. up 5 cents in a day, to an average of $4.23 a gallon. and get this. it could climb another 30 cents by this time next week. this comes even as gas prices actually fall for most of the country. nasdaq is investigating an unusual price spike in shares of kraft foods, in what could be another high-profile glitch. it canceled some of wednesday's

trades after kraft shares surged 29% in one minute. nasdaq isn't giving details. it says it's looking into potentially erroneous transactions. government investigators are out with a new warning about the $20 billion dietary supplement business. 20% of the weight loss in new system supplements they checked, had illegal labels that made health claims that are not allowed and also lacked key information. and facebook likes to boast that it's free. but the social network is rolling out a new feature that will give your posts a prime space on your friends' news feeds for a price. users who have seen the option in the past few days says it's running about 7 bucks for every post they push. >> you're paying for your friends to like what you're posting? >> a story for 2 t attention-starved. and a new jetblue marketing

gimmick is playing off of something we seem to hear for every election year. for all of the folks who say they're leaving the country if they're candidate does not win, jetblue is giving away free flights on. vote for your candidate and you might get a flight if the other guy wins. >> cool promotion. i kind of like that. that's not bad. when we come back this morning, a new warning for pregnant women. the common chemical being linked to more troubles for mothers and their babies. and ashton kutcher. the star of "punk'd" and the police say it's not a joke. there are a lot of warning lights and sounds vying for your attention. so we invented a warning you can feel. introducing the all-new cadillac xts. available with a patented safety alert seat. when there's danger you might not see,

you're warned by a pulse in the seat. it's technology you won't find in a mercedes e-class. the all-new cadillac xts has arrived, and it's bringing the future forward.

of course, we all know why the chicken crossed the road. but what about the emu? the flightless bird named taco popped up on a busy highway in

cape canaveral, bringing traffic to a standstill. taco was captured and returned to its owner. it's mating season. and taco was looking for love. unfortunately there's no other known emus in the area. he'll be sleeping alone. >> that's your motive for crossing the street, isn't it? now, for a look at morning road conditions. wet highways along the eastern seaboard, from new england all the way down to florida. early snowfall makes for a slick ride from bismarck and fargo into northern minnesota. >> only on fridays. >> if you're flying, airport delays are possible along the east coast in boston, new york, philly, minneapolis and miami. well, some important medical news this morning. there's a new health concern over the controversial chemical known as bpa. >> researchers say the substance found in plastics, cans and other products, affects pregnant women and newborn boys. a u.c. berkeley study finds bpa's estrogen-like qualities

can alter thyroid levels. those go down in the mom but up in the baby. doctors say small changes could affect the development in young children. and health experts are trying to pinpoint the source of a meningitis outbreak which has left four people dead and dozens more sick. all of the victims received steroid injections for back pain before becoming ill. most of the cases were at a national clinic. and now, the massachusetts pharmacy which was the source of the steroid, has closed. and a disturbing, new report about the generic version of a popular drug. the fda has asked a pharmaceutical company to stop shipping its version of wellbutrin, after tests found the drug is not the same as the brand-name. teva is the largest maker of generic drugs. wellbutrin is for depression and to help people stop smoking. a case of international

espionage. they are accused of shipping cutting-edge technology from houston and sending it to russia. it's believed the computer components ended up in russian radar and surveillance equipment. and there's nothing too high-tech about this one. police in chicago are searching for those responsible for a massive marijuana farm. it's about the size of two football fields. and some of the plants are the size of christmas trees. the estimated value, get this, is between $7 million and $10 million. those plants will be dug up and buried. high time they stopped that case. >> and high-tech, too? >> i'm getting it all today. ashton kutcher has been swatted. and the police in hollywood are not laughing about it. they arrived at kuchar's home yesterday with guns drawn after reports of a violent, ongoing burglar. there was no burglary.

and kuchar wasn't home. >> received a teletaypteletype, apparently from a deaf person. there was no shots being fired. all employees of the residence, doing what they were supposed to be doing. >> cops say they will track down the prankster. the same thing happened to miley cyrus. week five of the nfl gets under way tonight, with the undefeated arizona cardinals visiting the st. louis rams. and baseball's postseason lineup is all set. how the regular season ended, now, from espn. >> welcome to your "sportscenter" update. i'm jorge andres. the new york yankees trying to win the american league east, taking on their biggest rivals, the boston red sox. curtis granderson, getting ready in this one. daisuke matsuzaka, right here in boston. granderson, going yard. his 42nd of the season.

yankees, 3-1. bottom five, now. robinson cano, he had a game. his second home run of the contest. 33rd of the season. he was four for four. two dingers and six rbis. yankees -- the yankees win, 14-2. they are the a.l. east champs. that's buck showalter, rounding out the season against the rays. bottom one, evan longoria, his 15th bomb of the year. this one off chris stillman. tampa bay up 1-0. bottom four, now. longoria again. on fire. 2-0, rays. bottom six, now. guess who? longoria.

drills it again. he will be a hero. can't get to it. longoria, three home runs. rays with the win. that's your "sportscenter" update. i'm jorge andres, have a great day. >> we plan on it. the long losing streak of teddy roosevelt is over. >> he was behind george washington, and lincoln. teddy got help from the philly fanatic. >> he tried for his first win in seven seasons. and congratulations to the nationals. up next, "the pulse." move over elephants and donkeys. big bird is the big political star of the denver debate. and hay there. the farmer whose trip into town had drivers doing a double-take. for a shelter dog, there's no better feeling than going home. and by donating our food to shelters in need,

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"pulse," time, stories you're going to be talking about today. and some of the biggest buzz about the presidential debate isn't about the candidates. it's about big bird. >> mitt romney said he would cut funding to pbs, which is home to "sesame street," even though he likes big bird. that's when the twitterverse went wild. >> 23,000 followers in a couple of hours. tweets such as organizing a million muppet march against mitt. and occupy "sesame street." and there's a facebook page. >> got to love twitter. now, an update on the wisconsin anchorwoman who sounded off after receiving an e-mail about her weight.

>> jennifer livingston responded to the letter on tv, talking about self-worth. and that man is standing by his e-mail. he released an unrepentant statement, urging livingston to transform herself over the next year for her viewers to see. and he even offered her his advice and support. so, his name's out there. and now, his face is, as well. >> give it up, man. keep an doing your job. drivers in russia did a double-take after what appeared to be a bail of hay being driven down the road. >> the bizarre incident unfolded when a farmer decided to use the roof of his car to transport the hay. >> he was later stopped for dangerous driving. he told police his trtor had broken down. he had no other way of getting food to his cattle. tough times call for tough measures. >> a man's got to do what a man's got to do. for some of you, now, your local news coming up next. >> for everyone else, we're

going to be back with the best post-debate parodies of the years. with hunger in america.e ♪ but what if there was a simple way to feed those in need? now, there is. shop walmart for select brands' low prices through october 12th and you help secure meals for local families. go to walmart.com/hunger and learn more about how you can join the fight. because hunger is a big problem and it needs a big answer. but i still have a runny nose. [ male announcer ] dayquil doesn't treat that. huh? [ male announcer ] alka-seltzer plus rushes relief to all your worst cold symptoms, plus it relieves your runny nose. [ sighs ] thank you! [ male announcer ] you're welcome. that's the cold truth!

next, the string of violence ramps up in san jose, two murders overnight. the new numbers this morning that show what voters think of the first presidential debate. >> meteorologist lisa argen has the forecast. the fog is not all the way inland mild, cooler today. >> what about your traffic?flor. 6 to 12 inches of snow for northern minnesota to northern dakota. and finally from us this morning, defining moments from past presidential debates, it's not always the real debates we

remember best. it's the parodies. >> abc's jonathan karl has a look at some of those impressions that we just cannot forget. >> i can't. the third one, i can't. sorry. oops. >> reporter: some debate moments just don't need late-night comedians to be memorable. for the rest, there's "saturday night live." >> let me just sum up. on track. stay the course. 1,000 points of light. >> governor dukakis rebuttal. >> i can't believe i'm losing to this guy. >> reporter: over the years, the "snl" parodies have sometimes been more memorable sometimes than the debates themselves. >> can i call you joe? >> of course. >> okay, because i practiced a couple of zingers where i call you joe. >> okay. >> reporter: when you think of palin facing off against biden, you're probably most likely to think of this. >> you know, john mccain and i, we're a couple of mavericks. and gosh darn it, we're going to take that maverick energy right to washington. and we're going to use it to fix this financial crisis.

>> reporter: the real al gore was so stiff in his first debate -- >> i will put medicare and social security in a lockbox. >> reporter: -- his staff made him watch this. >> one of the keys to the lockbox would be kept by the president. >> reporter: the real john mccain wandered around the stage when he debated obama. and so did "snl's" mccain. the parodies aren't just funny. they can matter. >> as many people will talk about the "snl" skit on monday as talk about the actual presidential debate. and that's what makes it so powerful. >> reporter: after all, how can the real debate compete with something like this? >> i know the white house. i know the door out to the rose garden doesn't lock unless you pull it. i know the toilet in the lincoln bedroom will run all night unless you jiggle that handle. >> reporter: jonathan karl, abc news, washington. >> all about strategery. that's what's making news in america.